Jake Neighbours was on the ice as the Edmonton Oil Kings practiced at Rogers Place on Monday, April 22, 2019, in Edmonton. Game three of the Eastern Conference Championship goes tomorrow night at Rogers Place.Shaughn Butts / Postmedia

The Edmonton Oil Kings are playing with house money.

Having finished last in WHL standings a year ago, the Oil Kings were not pegged to be this deep into the playoffs this season as one of four teams still playing.

Heading into the Eastern Conference Final, the Oil Kings were given very little chance against the Prince Albert Raiders, who rolled through the league this season winning 54 of 68 games.

However, the Oil Kings managed a split in the first two games in Prince Albert and return home for Game 3 and Game 4, Tuesday and Wednesday at Rogers Place, confident they can pull off the upset and get to their first WHL final since 2014, the year they went on to win the Memorial Cup.

Here are three observations from the first two games played at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert:

Prince Albert rolled to a 54-10-2-2 record this season, but have likely not faced a blue line as good as the one Edmonton is rolling out against them.

The core of the Oil Kings defence has been together for the past three season and endured tough times the previous two years when the Oil Kings finished at the bottom of the league standings.

Wyatt McLeod, Conner McDonald, Matthew Robertson, Will Warm, Ethan Cap and Parker Gavlas are as good a defensive group as there is in the WHL and have been able to keep some of the Raiders’ big offensive weapons at bay.

The Raiders’ Dante Hannoun was leading in playoff scoring prior to the series, but didn’t have a point in the first two games against the Oil Kings. Brett Leason, who had 12 points in 10 games going into the series, has also been shutout. Noah Gregor has a goal in two games.

“The strength of our team is skating and playing with speed,” said Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer. “If we can take their time and space away quick, and not allow them to use their speed and get into their routes, that’s to our advantage.”

The Oil Kings have used the same six defenceman throughout the playoffs and maintained the same pairings.

Robertson, a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, has taken his game to a new level and his stock is increasing by the shift.

McLeod, McDonald, Warm and Cap went through some lean times together and have come out the other side a resilient and experienced group.

Gavlas, who was acquired from the Regina Pats in November as a depth defenceman, has been impressive throughout the playoffs.

“It’s funny what playoffs bring out of guys,” Lauer said. “He’s really embraced the playoffs and it’s shown. He’s keeping his game really simple and when he does that, he’s getting results.”

Gavlas, 19, has a goal and four points in 12 playoff games and is a team-leading plus-11.

“The D core we have this year, a lot of us have been through it all together,” Warm said. “We kind of know what it feels like to lose and to be able to have success this year and do it with the same D core is pretty special.”

DEPTH PROVING A FACTOR

From left, Will Warm and Matthew Robertson (22). The Edmonton Oil Kings practiced today at Rogers Place on April 22, 2019 in Edmonton. Game three of the Eastern Conference Championship goes tomorrow night at Rogers Place. Shaughn Butts / Postmedia

The Oil Kings have taken pride in their forward depth all season and have been rolling four lines in the playoffs.

Even in overtime Saturday, the Oil Kings were not afraid to roll through their lineup, while the Raiders shortened their bench. The Oil Kings fourth line of Zach Russell, Liam Keeler and Josh Williams have had a strong series so far and the third unit featuring Vladimir Alistrov, Scott Atkinson and Andrei Pavlenko have played well and looked dangerous.

“You never know how long overtime is going to go,” said Lauer following the 4-3 overtime win. “Most overtimes end in the first five or six minutes, and all of sudden it got into the 10-minute mark and you have to get guys into the game.”

The Oil Kings have seven forwards with at least five points so far in the playoffs. The Raiders also have seven forwards with at least five points, but the bulk of their scoring has come from their top two lines, featuring Gregor, Hannoun, Kelly Parker, Aliaksei Protas, Leason, and Sean Montgomery.

“Everyone is getting (playoff) experience as we go,” said Oil Kings forward Andrew Fyten. “The only thing is that it gets harder every round, games get tighter and we’re prepared for that.”

The Raiders have lost seven games at home in the intimidating confines of the Art Hauser Centre through the regular season and playoffs — just four in regulation — and two of them have come to the Oil Kings.

In four regular-season meetings, the Oil Kings were 1-2-1 against the Raiders and improved in every game against them.

“When we played them at the beginning of the year, they were on a big roll — they were 20-1 or something like that — and at that time we were a very young, immature team and I think we probably wanted to get their autographs more than just wanting to play against them,” Lauer said. “I think we sat back and watched and they pretty much took it to us. But as you play teams like this, you learn an awful lot and — I think not only you learn and it makes your team better when you play good teams — there was a lot that we took away every time we played these guys all year. There was something that we were able to take from them, what they did as a team, and brought into our group.”

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